Refrigerator



Feb- 8, 1938- o. J. STABBAL REFRIGERATOR Filed Feb. 5, 1936 2Sheets-Sheet 1 mvr O. J. STABBAL Feb. 8, 1938.

REFRIGERATOR Filed Feb. 5, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .ll kill...

Patented Feb. 8, 1938 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE nEFmGEnATon Oscar JohnStabbal, Lakewood, Ohio Appucatinn February a, 193s, serial No. 62,193

type in which the food chamber or chambers and the refrigerating elementare both located within a heat insulated casing, the temperature withinthe food chamber orfchambers being lowered by air or other gaseousrefrigerating medium that is hernieticallyV sealed within the casing andis circulated about the walls of the lfood chamberor chambers and aboutthe refrigerating element.

The primary object of the presentv invention is to provide arefrigerator of the above kind which may be built at a very low cost,and which will function efiiciently and economically.

In carrying out the present invention, the casing is provided with oneor more food receiving or like chambers and has its walls insulated andits interior hermetically sealed from the outer air, the food receivingor like chamber or chambers being accessible from the outside buthermetically sealed from the interior of the casing.

The refrigerating elementy is also located in the interior of the heatinsulated and hermetically sealed casing, and is sealed from the foodreceiving or like chamber or chambers. The casing contains air or othergaseous medium which is employed to absorb heat from the walls of thefood receiving or like chamber or chambers and deliver it to therefrigerating element, said air or other gaseous refrigerating mediumbeing caused to circulate about the refrigerating element and the wallsof the food receiving or like chamber or chambers with no communicationwith the external atmosphere so as to continuously perform its heatconveying function without change. Said air or other gaseousrefrigerating medium is dry and remains in that hygroscopic condition sothat no heat insulating frost canaccumulate upon the refrigeratingelement and cause a reduction in the efliciency of operation.

While the present refrigerator may be used for various refrigeratingpurposes, I have illustratedA the invention embodied in a domestic orhousehold refrigerator designed for preservation of food and theproduction of ice cubes.

Other important objects and features of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description when considered in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

50 Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a refrigeratorembodying the present invention, the plane of section being indicated bythe line I-l of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a. vertical sectional view on line 55 2 2 0f Figure 1.

. n (C1. ca -11s) This invention relates to a refrigerator of the Figure3 is an enlarged sectional detail view on line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

, Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section on line 4-4 ofFigure 2.

In the illustrated embodiment of the present 5 invention, the casingconsists of a suitable sheet metal shell 5 having its walls covered witha suitable heat insulating material 6 and mounted within a suitablecabinet l. In this embodiment, the casing 5 has an opening in an uppercorner lo portion of its front wall, and the portion of such front wallimmediately surrounding said opening is pressed or oiset inwardly as at8. Arranged in the shell 5 of the casing is an ice cube compartmentincluding a perforated outer sheet 15 metal shell 9 having perforations9a, and an inner rubber or like lining I0 in the form of a flexible sackwhich maybe turned inside out and withdrawn from the shell 9 through theopen front end of the latter and the adjacent opening 20 in the frontwall of casing shell 5. To facilitate this withdrawal of liningy I0, itmay be provided at a suitable point with an interior handle II. 'I'heopen end of shell 9 and lining Ill are suitably secured as at I2 to theinwardly pressed or olset 25 frontvwall portion 8 of casing shell 5, sothat the interior of the ice cube compartment is hermetically sealedfrom the interior of casing shell 5, although .the interior of said icecube compartment is accessible from the outside 30 through the openfront of said ice cube compartment and the registered opening in thefront wall of casing shell '5. A refrigerating coil or equivalentrefrigerating element I3 surrounds the shell 9 of the ice cubecompartment substantially 35 from end to end of the latter, and thiscoil or refrigerating element may be supplied with the necessaryrefrigerant from a suitable source by means of pipes I4 sealed inopenings of the casing shell 5 through which they pass.

The front Wall of casing shell 5 is provided with another relativelylarge opening of angular form in elevation that extends beneath andupwardly at the inner side of the ice cube compartment, and an openfront food chamber of similar 45 form and location is arranged Withinthe casing shell 5 with the front edgesy of its top, bottom -and sidewalls connected with the front wall of casing shell 5 at the edges ofthe'last-named opening in said casing shell 5, as indicated at I6,whereby said food chamber I5 is hermetically sealed from the interior ofthe casing shell 5. At the same time, the interior of food chamber I5 isaccessible from the outside through the open front of the latter and theopening in the front wall of casing l with which the open front of foodchamber I 5 is registered.- It will be noted that thetice cube chamberand the food chamber are arranged with their top, bottom, side and rearwalls in spaced relation to the corresponding adjacent walls oi thecasing shellv l so that air or other gaseous refrigerating medium withinthe shell l may freely circulate about said walls of the ice cubechamber and food chamber to convey heat therefrom to the refrigeratingelement or coil I3 which closely surrounds the ice cube chamber and isalso completely spaced from the adjacent walls ofthe casing shell I. Itwill oi' course be understood that dry air or other gaseousrefrigerating medium is placed inthe casing shell 5, and such air orgaseous refrigerating medium will rise as it absorbs heat from the wallsof food chamber IB, flowing to the refrigerating coil I3 to have theheat extracted therefrom, and then passing downwardly as indicated bythe arrows in Figure l, to continuously perform this heat absorbing andconveying function. The air or gaseous refrigerating medium will alwaysremain in its dry condition so that no heat insulating frost canaccumulate upon the refrigerating coil or element I2 'and cause areduction in the emciency of operation. This is particularly true as therefrigerating element or coil I2 is hermetically sealed in the casingshell 5 and from the interior of the ice cube compartment, the interiorof the food compartment, and the outside atmosphere, and cannottherefore receive moisture from the said chambers or outside atmosphere.

While the flexible sack-like lining III of the ice cube chamber maybecome frosted on the inside, it may be readily withdrawn and turnedinside out for de-frosting the same in any suitable way, such as bypouring warm water thereon. 'I'he perforated shell 9 of the ice cubechamber permits passage of the air or gaseous refrigerating medium intoand out of said shell and in intimate contact with the outer surface ofthe lining III, the lining I0 hermetically sealing the interior of theice cube chamber from the interior of casing shell 5.

'I'he cabinet 'I has a suitable front opening I1 through which accessmay be had to the interior of the ice cube and food chambers, whichopening I'I may be closed by a suitable door I8. In

l order to exclude the moist air of food chamber I5 'from the interiorof the ice cube chamber when the door IB of the refrigerator is closed,a suitable gasket I9 maybe provided in surrounding relation to theopening in the front wall of casing shell 5 with which the ice cubechamber is registered, said gasket being arranged to abut the inner faceof door I8 when the latter is closed.

Defrosting should be suillciently frequent that a heavy coating of icemay not form on lining I0, and prevent the latter from 4beingmanipulated.

Suction means is provided for maintaining a slight vacuum within thecasing shell i so as to draw the flexible and preferably elastic liningI0 of the ice cube chamber into intimate relation with the innersurfaces of the walls of the outer sheet metal shell 9 oi' said ice cubechamber. As shown, this suction means may consist of a bellows 20suitably placed in communication with the interior of casing shell S, asat 2|, and normally yieldingly expanded by means of an internal spring22. This suction means also has the additional function of admittingadditional air or gaseous refrigerating medium into the casing shell lwhen a slight vacuum is created within arcaico l said food incompartment Il. positive Imeans is provided for circulating the air inand along the walls of said food chamber or compartment Il. As shown,this air circulating means may consist ci' a fan 2l located at one sideof and near the bottom of the food chamber II within the latter, andencased by a ring-shaped iiange 2l pressed laterally from and insurrounding relation to an opening in the lower portion of a verticalplate 2i arranged parallel with and in slightly spaced relation to theadjacent side wall of the food chamber II, with its upper edge spacedfrom the top wall of chamber Il as at 26. The fan 23 thus discharges theair laterally acro the bottom of food chamber IS so that it may rise andthen return across the top of the chamber I i to the space at 20 andthen back to the fan between the plate 25 and the adjacent side wall ofchamber Il as indicated by the arrows in Figure l. The fan 22 may besuitably driven, as by means of a small electric motor 21 locatedoutside the cabinet 1 and having a power shaft projecting through theadjacent wall of cabinet l, casing shell 5 and food chamber II. 'I'hefood chamber Il preferably consists of a shell-of sheet metal which is agood heat conductor.

It will be understood lthat the circulation oi' the air or gaseousrefrigerating medium about the ice cube and food chambers is eil'ectedon the well known thermo-syphon principle, although positive circulationof such air or gaseous refrigeratingmedium may be resorted to. Also,while a single food chamber has been illustrated, it will be obviousthat the construction may be readily modified to include more than onefood chamber. Other details illustrated and described are subject tovarious modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

It is believed that the advantages and operav tion of the invention willbe readily understood and appreciated from the foregoing description bythose skilled in the art. It .will be particularly noted that theinvention provides a simple, compact and eillcient construction capableof economical manufacture and use.

What I claim as new is:

1. A refrigerator comprising a hermetically closed casing containing arefrigerating chamber and a food or like chamber and affording arefrigerating space in surrounding relation to said chambers, saidchambers being accessible from the exterior but hermetically closedfromthe refrigerating space, means to close said chambers from the exteriorand to seal said chambers from each other, a refrigerating elementhermetically sealed within said refrigerating space adjacent saidrefrigerating chamber, and a gaseous refrigerating medium sealed withinthe refrigerating space for circulating in thermal contact with the wallof said food or like chamber and the surface of said refrigeratingelement, said food or like chamber having an inwardly offset upperportion affording an enlargement of said refrigerating space withinwhich the refrigerating element and the refrigerating chamber arearranged.

2. A refrigerator comp-rising a hermetically closed casing containing arefrigerating chamber and a food chamber and affording a refrigeratingspace in surrounding relation to said chambers, said chambers beingaccessible from the exterior but hermetically closed from therefrigerating space, means to close said chambers from the exterior andto seal them from each other, a refrigerating element hermeticallysealed within said refrigerating space adjacent said refrigeratingchamber, and a gaseous refrigerating medium sealed within therefrigerating space for circulating in thermal contact with the wall ofsaid food chamber and the surface of said refrigerating element, saidrefrigerating chamber comprising a rigid outer perforate shell and animperforate inner sack-like flexible lining for said shell formed ofrubber or the like and adapted to be withdrawn from the latter andturned wrong side out to facilitate de-frosting thereof.

3. A refrigerator comprising a hermetically closed casing containing arefrigerating chamber and a food chamber and affording a refrigeratingspace in surrounding relation to said chambers, said chambers beingaccessible from the exterior but hermetically closed from therefrigerating space, a refrigerating element hermetically sealed withinsaid refrigerating space adjacent said refrigerating chamber, a gaseousrefrigerating medium sealed Within the refrigerating space forcirculating in thermal contact with the walls of said chambers and thesurface of said refrigerating element, said refrigerating chambercomprising a rigid outer perforate shell and an imperforate innersack-like fiexible lining for said shell formed of rubber or the likeand adapted to be Withdrawn from the latter and turned wrong side out tofacilitate de-frosting thereof, and suction means for automaticallyproducing a slight partial vacuum in the refrigerating space to draw andhold the lining in intimate relation to said outer shell and toautomatically relieve a greater partial vacuum within said refrigeratingspace produced by withdrawal of said lining from its outer shell or bythe loW- ering of temperature within said refrigerating space, wherebybuckling of the walls of said food or like chamber is prevented.

4. A refrigerator comprising a hermetically closed casing containing arefrigerating chamber and a food chamber and affording a refrigeratingspace in surrounding relation to said chambers, said chambers beingaccessible from the exterior but hermetically closed from therefrigerating space, a refrigerating element hermetically sealed Withinsaid refrigerating space adjacent said refrigerating chamber, a gaseousrefrigerating medium sealed within the refrigerating space forcirculating in thermal contact with the wall of said food chamber andthe surface of said refrigerating element, said refrigerating chambercomprising a rigid outer perforate shell and an imperforate innersack-like flexible lining for said shell formed of rubber or the likeand adapted Vto be withdrawn from the latter and turned wrong side outto facilitate cle-frosting thereof, and suction means for automaticallyproducing a slight partial vacuum in the refrigerating space to draw andhold the lining in intimate relation to said outer shell and toautomatically relieve a greater partial' vacuum Within saidrefrigerating space produced by withdrawal of said lining from its outershell or by the lowering of temperature within said refrigerating space,whereby buckling of the walls of said food chamber is prevented, saidsuction means comprising a spring expanded bellows having nocommunication with the outside atmosphere and communicating with saidrefrigerating space.

5. A refrigerator comprising a hermetically closed heat insulated casingcontaining ice cube and food chambers, said ice cube and food chambersbeing accessible from the exterior but hermetically closed from theinterior of said casing, the casing providing a refrigerating space insurrounding relation to said chambers and between the latter, arefrigerating element surrounding said ice cube chamber, a gaseousrefrigerating medium sealed within the refrigerating space to circulatein thermal contact with the walls of said chambers and the surface ofsaid refrigerating element, said food chamber having an inwardly offsetupper portion affording an enlargement of said refrigerating spacewithin which the ice cube chamber and refrigerating element arearranged, and a motor operated fan in said food chamber for circulatingthe air in the latter.

6. A refrigerator comprising a. hermetically closed heat insulatedcasing containing ice cube and food chambers, said ice cube and foodchambers being accessible from the exterior but hermetically closed fromthe interior of said casing,

the casing providing a refrigerating space in surrounding relation tosaid chambers and between the latter, a refrigerating elementsurrounding said ice cube chamber, and a gaseous refrigerating mediumsealed within the refrigerating space to circulate in thermal contactwith the Walls of said chambers and the surface' of said refrigeratingelement, said food chamber having an inwardly offset upper portionaording an enlargement of said refrigerating space Within which the icecube chamber and refrigerating element are arranged, said ice cubechamber comprising an outer perforated shell and an imperforate flexiblesack-like lining formed of rubber or the like and adapted to bewithdrawn from the shell and turned wrong side out"to facilitatedefrosting thereof.

7. A refrigerator comprising a hermetically closed heat insulated casingcontaining ice cube and food chambers, said ice cube and food chambersbeing accessible from the exterior but hermetically closed from theinterior of said casing, the casing providing a refrigerating space insurrounding relation to said chambers and between the latter, arefrigerating element surrounding said ice cube chamber, a gaseousrefrigerating medium sealed within the refrigerating space to circulatein thermal contact with the Walls of said chambers and the surface ofsaid refrigerating element, said food chamber having an inwardly offsetupper portion affording an enlargement of said refrigerating spacewithin which the ice cube chamber and refrigerating element arearranged, said ice cube chamber comprising an outer perforated shell andan imperforate flexible sack-like lining formed of rubber or the likeand adapted to be withdrawn from the shell and turned wrong side out tofacilitate defrosting thereof, and means to seal the 'ice cube chamberfrom the food chamber.

OSCAR JOHN STABBA L.

